Trump Reopens Direct U.S. Flights to Lebanon

President Donald J. Trump announced that the administration will permit U.S. airlines to operate direct flights to Lebanon, ending a ban thatắf had been imposed after the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 by Hezbollah.

The decision, shared on the former president’s social‑media platform following a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. It lifts the Federal Aviation Administration’s prohibition that barred carriers from flying directly to Beirut following the notorious hijacking, which sparked a 17‑day standoff that resulted in the death of a U.S. Navy sailor.

“I am hereby directing my administration to allow all U.S. airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit this beautiful land,” Trump wrote. “Hopefully, other countries will do the same.”

It remains unclear when the administration will formally rescind the ban or whether carriers will begin scheduling flights to Beirut in the near future.

The FAA stated that it “looks forward to working with airlines and our interagency partners to advance the president’s directive and support the safe return of flights to Lebanon.”

The move could increase American presence in Beirut, even as security conditions remain uncertain. Obrational لعيدة Lebanese and Israeli leaders are operating under a U.S.-brokered framework to negotiate the withdrawal of Israeli troops from areas recently occupied during a campaign targeting Hezbollah—an effort conducted alongside the U.S. stance on Iran. The State Department indicated that withdrawal operations had begun in three “pilot zones,” though by the following day both sides reported resumed Israeli artillery fire.

Hezbollah, a militia backed by Iran that effectively functions as a governing body in parts of Lebanon, has rejected the U.S.-backed peace process, which would entail its disarmament.

The United States’ efforts to curb hostilities between Lebanon and Israel, a conflict that has alternating periods of frozen tension and outright war for nearly eight decades, stand in contrast to President Trump’s hardline view of Iran, where diplomatic talks have collapsed and continued bombardment has resumed. Nonetheless, both conflict zones remain interconnected through the Iran–Hezbollah nexus and the militia’s influence on Lebanese political affairs.

On Tuesday, Trump said he intended to speak with Hezbollah leaders to help advance a resolution—particularly if President Aoun requested such engagement.

“I will speak to people that many people think I shouldn’t be speaking to, and things will work out,” he added.

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